All good things must come to an end, and for the city of Commerce two good things will end this Friday afternoon with the retirements of city manager Clarence Bryant and city clerk Shirley Willis.
Both have served the city well for two decades, their longevity a testimony to not just their competence and professionalism, but also to the stability in city government they had large roles in establishing and maintaining. They have served so long, in fact, that a lot of Commerce residents take that service for granted and have little idea just how far the city has come under their watch. During their tenure, Commerce evolved into a community widely regarded as having the best management and most stable government in the area.
The recent economic difficulties brought about by the recession — particularly the closing of the Louisiana Pacific oriented strandboard plant in Center — have been and continue to be a financial challenge for the city, but they pale in comparison to the financial conditions that prevailed prior to Bryant’s arrival. Today, the city council struggles to balance its budget; back then, the council routinely borrowed money early in the year to operate until property taxes were paid late in the year. Commerce has not had to borrow money for operations since Bryant arrived, and the reserves built under his guidance, though diminished by the recession, keep the city financially solvent while enabling it to provide all city services.
Bryant came to Commerce with a reputation for being a sound financial manager. One of his earliest moves was to lay off 10 city employees from the oversized city bureaucracy — and it was nearly 20 years before the number of city employees returned to that 1990 level.
Willis, who was secretary to the city manager, became clerk in 1992, earning her certification in 1994. But she expanded the role, becoming the city’s finance director (she was already its election superintendent), and assumed major zoning-related duties in 1995 when Commerce set up its own zoning and building inspection systems. Like Bryant, she is known area-wide for her expertise and competence.
Both Bryant and Willis have been no-nonsense employees dedicated to doing their jobs well and to improving the professionalism inside City Hall and outside as well. Once the laughingstock of Northeast Georgia, Commerce’s government became among the most respected in the area.
The success of the city is not coincidental to the people hired over Bryant’s tenure, from police chief John Gaissert to clean up a mess created by a crooked police chief to recently retired recreation director Lonnie Dickerson, and including all of the utility department heads as well as other key personnel. Bryant demanded — and generally got — high standards from city employees.
In short, Bryant and Willis had a lot to do with providing the kind of government previous elected officials envisioned when they changed the city charter to produce a city manager form of government. Through the ups and downs of two decades, the challenges of increasing regulation and economic uncertainty, Bryant and Willis have served Commerce with distinction. They deserve the thanks of the citizens as they enter well-earned retirements.
